EverQuest – 64-Bit Servers and Clients Arriving Soon

Darkpaw Games, the team behind EverQuest, are in it for the long haul, it looks like, as according to this article on the game’s website, in a few months the long-running MMORPG will be switching over to 64-Bit servers and clients. Here’s how that’s going to work, along with the updated system requirements:

Greetings, Norrathians!

We are excited to officially announce the long-awaited conversion to 64-bit Servers and Clients for EverQuest!

You may be wondering, “Why is this important?” The answer is simply, with more available memory we can immediately decrease the “out of memory” client crashes. This update is going to allow for the utilization of more of the memory on your computer and on our servers. Currently, no matter how much physical or virtual memory is on your machine we are limited to using 4GBs of it. With 64-bit clients, we can in theory use up to 16 exabytes. The “out of memory” issue is statistically the number one reason we see client crashes right now. Additionally, this change allows for increased client and server performance by allowing us to load more into memory instead of relying on slow reads from a hard drive. Plus, this puts us on a path to have more and higher resolution art in the game.

We will begin rolling out the new 64-bit update to Beta in the coming weeks, and at that time you will need to run a 64-bit Windows OS to continue participating in Beta. However, the 64-bit update will not be launching with the launch of the new expansion: Terror of Luclin. You will still be able to enjoy EverQuest’s 28th Expansion launch without any interruption on live servers. After the launch of the expansion, we will be updating the Test Server about a month before the full launch to live servers. This release to the Test Server is currently targeted for early 2022. We want to make sure this transition is as smooth as possible, so these dates are subject to change in order to make sure we can provide you with the best possible update. LaunchPad will automatically update your client and you will be able to enjoy EverQuest in a new and improved way. It is just around the corner so stay tuned for the Beta and Test Server announcements!

Officially, the sunsetting of the 32-bit client will take effect on the day that the 64-bit clients are released to the live servers. Because of this migration, we will no longer be able to support 32-bit systems. We recommend making backups of any INI files (or other customizations) in your client directory and upgrading to at least the minimum 64-bit specs as shown below:

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

• OS: Windows 7 64-bit or newer
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400/AMD Athlon x2 4050e
• Memory: 3 GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 8800/AMD Radeon HD 2600 XT or higher
• Network: Broadband Internet Connection
• Hard Drive: 15 GB of free hard drive space

OPTIMAL RECOMMENDED SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit or newer
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850/AMD Phenom II x2
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 260/AMD Radeon HD 4870 or higher
• Network: Broadband Internet Connection
• Hard Drive: 15 GB of free hard drive space

You can determine if you are running a 64-bit version of Windows on Microsoft’s Support Site.

This update is an example of how we here at Darkpaw Games are constantly dedicated to improving and innovating on your favorite game through key modernization initiatives. In the coming years, we are planning on more big projects like this and hope to be able to share some of them with you in the future.

Thank you for your continued understanding, patience, and support and as always, we will see you in Norrath!

-The Darkpaw Team